A- Pours a light hazed orange copper color. One and a half finger off white almost dirty white color to it. Head sticks around for a little while before leaving globs of lacing on the sides of the glass.

S- Interesting aroma. And I mean there is a lot of complex scents in this beer. Cloves and banana were easy to pick out along with some yeasty bready smells. There is also some spices along with darker fruits. Light caramel malts in there as well. I am sure I am forgetting about a lot that is in there but I can't pick out anymore.

T- The taste is almost like the aroma with there being so much in there. Light caramel malts mix well a yeasty clove and banana taste. Some darker fruits mix in there as well just showing up in hints. There is also a light alcohol presence that is in the end of the sip. Nothing that screams out but is not annoying at the same time.

M- Medium mouthfeel. Carbonation is good with the style. All the flavors kind of blend together put mostly a lot of clove and banana to me was left on the palate along with some sweet malts in the aftertaste. A little drying in the mouth but nothing that made the beer less enjoyable.

D- This was a good stab at this style and I look forward to it next year. Nice work on this one Great Lakes! (1,316 characters)

T - Exhibits more tartness than in the nose; almost sour. Whereas the nose had distinct aromas, the flavors kind of blend together. Some over-ripe fruit, banana & orange, are discernable. I'm not distinguishing any malts.

M - Heavy side of medium. Creamy yet pointed carbonation. Rather clean finish; not much in the way of lingering flavors.

D - It's drinkable, but nothing about it screams exceptional by any means. Worth a shot, but I'm no hurry for another. It doesn't appear to have made the 2010 lineup; I won't miss it. (854 characters)

I poured this one from a 12oz brown bottle into a tall pilsner glass to show it off.

A= This ale poured a lightly hazed orange/copper/brown color with a 1/2" creamy off-white head. The head dropped to a 1/4" cap but retained that all the way. Lots of obvious carbonation release. Just a couple minor spots of lace left behind on my glass.

S= Nicely aromatic, even when cold. I found aromas of malt sweetness, toffee, spice, and bananas. Very nice.

T= Great array of flavor here. Started sweet with the toffee malt notes coming on strong. Mixed in with the sweet though, was a complex spiciness that almost defied description. Sort of like spiced holiday bread and oatmeal cookies, but without being over the top or cloying in any way. In fact, I would say this beer was delicate as well as complex. Definite fruity notes, as one would expect, with banana being dominant but I also tasted (spiced) apple and clove. Finish dried a bit and went back to the banana with a slight hint of tartness just at the end.

Big thanks to weeare138 for sharing a growler of this beer at a tasting at my place last week. It is a very tasty brew and one that is not easily attainable. The Weizenbock style is not a favorite of mine but this is a very solid stab at the style, and a tasty brew as well.

Appearance: Emerges from the growler a murky brown caramel hue looking thick and muddled. Ivory tan head forms and fades with little lace.

How satisfying is this? This was one of my favorite pub exclusives at GLBC and now it is bottled! Cool!Poured from a great looking 12 oz. bottle into my GLBC Christmas Ale goblet. Purchased for $9.99 for a 4 pack from Heinen's in Willoughby Hills a week ago.

A dark caramel brown body lets some light throught but it is pretty dark. Head is light brown, basically matches the body and both make this beer very attractive to me.

T Oh yeah, this is just a good as I remember it when it was back on tap at the brewery. Nice medium malt with a touch of hops (that is how hops should show up in a beer IMO) to balance it out and a little kick of alcohol. A nice, tasty, malty Weizenbock that is probably thicker than other Weizenbocks but it is delicious.

M As stated, a bit thicker than other Weizenbocks (Vitus comes to mind) and that sweet syrupy quality thickens things up as well. I really enjoy that mouthfeel in a beer.

D Great for this ABV. Really I could have the whole 4 pack. (1,099 characters)

Pours an orange copper color with a slight one finger head and very little lacing. The aroma is of banana and some honey along with a hint of clove and some sweet malt. The taste is of a sweet malt backbone with banana and honey flavors over the top of the taste. The mouthfeel has a small amount of carbonation and is slightly watery. Overall it is an easy drinking beer, nothing to make you shy away from it. A solid beer. (424 characters)

Pours a clear copper color with a 2 finger thick, cream colored head with above average retention, forming a dense creamy layer atop the beer. Quite a bit of visible carbonation cascading towards the surface of the beer.

The aroma has a sweet wheat character, along with a toasty graininess and some clove and green apple notes with a nice spicy background.

The flavor, not unlike the aroma, is centered around the sweetness from the wheat and prominent clovey esters. Some other malt characteristics are also evident such as a mild toasted caramel flavor. There is nice little spicy hop character as well, although not overpowering in the slightest, mostly just accentuating the overall sweetness. A pretty evident does of alcohol is noted towards the finish, imparting a subtle warmth.

Medium bodied and creamy smooth, the carbonation was really kept in check leading to the great texture. This was a great beer, consisting of a lot of wheat beer characteristics, and yet so much more. (990 characters)

Presentation: It was poured from a brown 12oz bottle into a Weizen glass.

Appearance: The body has a deep old copper/amber color. It is very hazy and it produces a small creamy, light tan colored head on top. The head slowly fades down to a thin ring of foam that makes a little slice lacing on the glass.

Smell: Its aroma has big full nose of fruity and bready yeast with notes of banana, clove, toffee and fruited liquor.

Taste/Palate: To start with this beer has a nice mellow warmth throughout from its 8%abv. It has a big fruity yeast character and full bready malt with plenty of sweetness up front. It has notes of ripe banana, golden raison, sour cherry and just a hint of toffee, clove and leafy hops. The hops add some light bitterness to the back end. The finish is bone dry and the palate is very smooth with a solid medium to full body.

Notes: This was a very enjoyable Weizenbock. Its alcohol was very noticeable at first but mellows as you drink and as it warms. (981 characters)

Little less than a finger of deep tan cream colored head, dissipates rapidly into scattered islands of bubbles, light stickiness to the lacing. Strong cloudiness helps it hold light and deepen the glow in the amber red, orange rust colored liquid, holds richness through the rims. The nose is quite sweet, yet openly knit enought to not become too much so, clove, ginger, nutmeg in action, honeyed mandarin oranges, corn syrup, esters, banana to dried apricot fruit, fruit cake, nothing that briskly penetrating or sharp-edged, dries out well as it lifts and dissolves. Medium-bodied, fairly tight carbonation gives it more density than foaminess. same sort of raisin bread, banana, apricot, peach thing going on, sweet oranges, cloves and a moment of honeyed ham, oatmeal. More chocolate and caramel than found in the nose. Sweet enough to be smooth but there's also some grit to the texture which holds your attention. Fills the mouth without heaviness, all the way through the finish. Tasty stuff. (1,000 characters)

Great Lakes Glockenspiel is a dim, hazy, reddish brown ale with a yellowish off-white head that leaves nice lacing. It has a sweet, spicy, estry aroma with notes of banana, clove, raisin, fig, apple, coriander and black pepper. It's full bodied and syrupy with a sticky finish. It seems a touch scratchy. It's quite sweet with all of the aroma elements present in the flavor. It's a little resiny, leathery and phenolic, with an alcoholic aftertaste. It's pretty good, but I couldn't see reaching for a second one. (514 characters)

Pours a dark amber color, or maybe more like a medium brown. Hazy as expected, with a big, two plus fingers of foamy khaki head. As big as the head is originally it doesn't keep all that well; keeps a thin, partially full lace but doesn't leave much of any stick.

Smell has big aromas of banana and clove, as well as some sweet caramel malt and slightly musty yeast. It's got some peppery spice to it, as well, and some other fruit aromas like maybe apples.

Taste has a big caramel malt sweetness to it. It's bready and quite rich, and the banana and clove work nicely off of that backbone. Also some fruity esters, musty yeast and peppery spice. A hint of alcohol but it's well hidden for the most part. Smooth and very tasty.

Mouthfeel is on the plus side of a medium body, quite smooth and very clean in the finish. For the sweetness this beer has it is not at all cloying. Carbonation seems appropriate.

I'm not usually a huge fan of wheat beers or weizenbocks, but this one is really nice. Probably the best weizenbock I've ever had, and I especially love the rich malty base off of which the other flavors work, rather than dominating with banana and clove. Really good stuff. (1,187 characters)

I bought a 6-pack of the GLBC Grassroots Ale when it came out, and that was a mistake. I'd have preferred if I'd bought a six of this...much better. When I think Weizenbock, and I think of the Schneider & Brooklyner Hopfen-Weisse as the form of the style. And this looks, smells, and tastes enough like Schneider Weisse that I got the idea right away. Pretty good - and in a style I find to be pretty uncommon but pretty tasty. This beer pours orange with a ton of head. Aroma is spice and malt. Flavor is sweet, malty, and again, spicy with clove. Mouthfeel is split - there is a full malty component, and a watery note. Strange that mouthfeel is split into two different textures.

This beer didn't knock my socks off - but solid. I'd recommend.

I went all the way to WI and bought this beer and brought it all the way back to OH where I live. What a waste! (860 characters)

Pours a dark reddish brown in color. There's about a half inch of head that forms on the pour, but is quickly gone and leaves nothing but a white ring around the top of the glass.Smell is all malts. Just a little bit of hops and you can notice just a hint of alcohol as well.Taste is huge caramel malts, but a surprisingly large amount of smoke and peat. Thin to medium in mouthfeel. A little amount of carbonation. Fairly enjoyable and easy to drink. (453 characters)

L: Pours a nice copper color with a medium sized and medium bodied off-white colored head that laces the glass a bit on the way down.S: Smells of sweet roasted malts, hints of citrus-y fruits, some banana, bread, and yeasty aromas.T: Tastes of sweet roasted malts, some caramelized malts, bread and yeasty flavors (including the banana I smelled before), a nice slight hop finish.M: Medium bodied, slightly warming, perfect amount of carbonation.D: Pretty drinkable, all the flavors were there in the right amounts and were pretty good. (540 characters)

I ended up storing a 12oz bottle from when it was released in 4pks in 2009. Pours a deep brown w/ nice head and lacing. Smells like bananas and cloves; very yeasty. I'm also picking up so candied sugars and dark fruits. This is a bittersweet beer. The hops have faded, giving it a sweet malty backbone. Heavy beer, smooth, creamy, not overly carbonated; full-bodied. Drinkability isn't bad, but like I said, it's pretty heavy. The alcohol is more masked now w/ some age on it. The original booziness brings the overall down just a tad.

Glockenspiel a cloudy dark amber almost brownish red color. Its pretty viscous coming out of the bottle. The head forms nice and tight and creamy on top.

Despite being a summer release from Great Lakes, I find this style to be a great beer in the fall. The aroma is similar to apple cider almost. Plenty of spicy clove smells along with the good old banana. Caramel and brown sugar are also present. Very aromatic.

One taste and I am in heaven. I love this style. Very sweet up front but the body of this beer has some complexity for sure. Some clove spiciness combines with some apples and cinnamon along with a bit of warming from the alcohol. Its just about perfect on a cool fall evening. The finish is nice and crisp and leaves your mouth just dry enough to prevent a person from putting their glass down for more than a few minutes. (843 characters)

i was gonna dock points for the minimal head/lacing, but at 8% i'll ease off. the menu advertised it as "plum colored" and i won't argue, though it seemed a little more brownish than "plum." completely opaque, with plenty of wheatyyeast in suspension

the nose held a rich malty wheat with a kick of coriander and alcohol spice. BAM! the spicy duo continued when i sipped and followed along with a dark fruit (raisin specifically) that was minimal on the banana. huge wheatiness

full bodied with a bitterness that lingered like that of the wit. great fall/winter brew (591 characters)

Pours a cloudy copper color with a one and a half inch off-white head which retains well and leaves some pretty nice sheets of lace.

Aroma is of caramel, a bit of banana, apple, bready malt, and clove.

Taste starts with a bit of a sweet caramel bready malt character which is joined by banana and apple esters in the middle with a spicy clove character coming out towards the finish with a bit of alcohol apparent.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied, more on the full side, good creamy carbonation level.

This was a pretty good weizenbock though not really my favorite. Worth a try if you enjoy this style for sure. (647 characters)

Been looking for this for a few weeks and managed to find some last night. Poured from the bottle into a pint glass.

Appearance: Pours a deep ruby/coppery color with some hints of gold -- I was told that a great descriptor of the color is "plum flesh" and I totally get that, but I didn't want to use it because it would be snaking a very good descriptor that someone else came up with. A one finger head that is offwhite is present and it appears a litlte thick and chewy, fades relatively quickly to a firm yet slightly uneven skim on the surface. Solid carbonation bubbling up from the bottom of the just slightly hazy body. Really no lacing to speak of.

Smell: Reminiscent of a belgian with some dark sweet fruits and spices in the nose, perhaps even some banana. Some very sweet maltiness is in there as well and brings about a semi-sweet breadlike quality.

Taste: The bold spiciness in the nose is a little subdued in the mouth, but still very present. Again, like a Belgian I pick up on some corriander and even some nutmeg. I feel the banana is present as well like it is in the nose, but combined with the bready quality it tastes a bit like banana bread; mouth is a bit yeasty as well (hence the bready quality); slight presence of alcohol on the breath but it's very mild and pleasantly warming.

Mouthfeel: A medium body comes across a bit thick and chewy and is very nice; a slight coating is left behind and the belly is particularly warmed from the alcohol.

Drinkability: Moderate to high I would say; it's a wonderful tasting beer but it's a little heavy so I wouldn't want to sit around and have too many because I would feel weighed down; the ABV is getting up there too at 8%, not that it's especially high, but I can already feel it creeping up on me. Very nice beer overall and well worth the wait and hunting for it. (1,846 characters)